Strange Neighbors

That crazy old woman
Seldom seen
Alive but quite apart
From the nearby world

Neighbors in
Close proximity,
but living miles away

Not seeing
Nor caring to see
Enfleshed foibles.
Prefering gossip
To upleasant contact.

Then the plates shifted, upheaving.
Police, ambulances,
and revelations
rush by.

How shocking to find
The body of her husband
Lying abed for a decade.

But why shocking?
How can an act of not seeing
Lead to shock?
Why not say indifference courts squalor,
Instead?

Hard realities
Lying close to home --
Conveniently ignored.

But not seeing
Is not … not being.
So the disorder steadily gains.
Until we wake up shocked
That the world has buckled,
Under our feet.

- f'Man Bocera